There are no rules in this game
by The Grey Wolf Ghost
Summary: A group of survivors come across a small town just outside of Boston. It's deserted, but full of supplies and seems like a safe place to rest, not a zombie in sight. Just a deserted town. What they don't realize is that just down the road is a small farm house, lurking around this farm house is a witch who doesnt play by the rules. In this game anything goes. One shot. Please R R


The dry ground crunched loudly as the group of survivors walked cautiously through the town common, situated on a small hill overlooking the center of town. It had obviously not rained in the area in weeks, not since the Green Flu came into full swing anyways, the crunch echoed through the deserted town so loud that each one of the survivors were on edge. Any little sound could attract the hordes and no one wanted to be the one that set them off.

The town itself was pretty quaint; the local commuter rail ran through it so the town tried to make itself look like a train community, like something out of a model train village in someone's basement. It had a giant clock in the dead center of town and all of the buildings were identical, even the Dunkin' Donuts and Walgreens looked cookie cutter. It was even more frightening then the zombies.

That was something they hadn't seen in a while, at least not for a few towns, no smokers, no boomers, not even a witch. It was a little concerning for Carter, he wasn't the oldest in the group of six survivors, but he had kind of taken the lead with the other five survivors. This was ironic because he had only been with the group a few days. Regardless of his time with the group, Carter felt responsible for all of them. Especially the youngest of the group, an eleven year who acted more adult than most of the real adults in the group.

Even though everyone wanted to explore the town, Carter and Jake a college sophomore wanted to check out the Walgreens. Most of the stores they had checked out in the past dozen towns were ransacked clean, but the state of this town and the fact that it looked just deserted not destroyed gave all the survivors renewed hope for fresh supplies.

Jake walked up to the doors and pulled on the handles carefully, they were locked which surprised him. Looking back at Carter, Jake took his baseball bat that he kept strapped to his back and swung it at the glass door. It shattered after a couple of swings and everyone braced themselves for an alarm to start screaming.

It never came, the town remained silent, and all six survivors breathed a sigh of relief. Jake climbed in door first his flashlight on and his shotgun loaded, just in case. Carter watched as the others made their way in, keeping an eye out for obscure movement or sound that would imply the hordes were coming.

Husband and wife William and Sherry went in after Jake, followed by Mary Ellen who turned to look at Alex, the eleven year old of the group. She was gazing at the center and looking homesick. The town center looked like hers, of course most of them did, she was beginning to forget what her own town looked like so all of them looked familiar.

The church was about the same age as the one in the center of her town, the small gas station, even the gazebo on the town common looked the same.

"Alex you planning on keeping watch?" Mary Ellen asked tapping on Alex's shoulder, pulling her out of her deep thought. Mary Ellen was a forty something year old used cars saleswoman and tended to talk to everyone like she was trying to sell them a car.

"N...No." Alex stuttered shaking her head

"Come on Alex, why don't you go see how much bottled water you can find."

"Okay," Alex replied going inside after the rest of the group.

The survivors had started out as just Mary Ellen, William and Sherry who owned a small antique store together, and Paul, a high school math teacher coming from just over the Massachusetts/New Hampshire state line in Nashua New Hampshire. Rumor had reached them that Boston was a total safe zone, the city had managed to eliminate all of the zombies and had put up a barrier to protect the city.

So the group began that trip to Boston, just outside of Lowell, they met up with Gayle, a registered nurse who had served as a combat nurse during Vietnam, she was an absolute asset to the group, especially after Sherry had fallen spraining her ankle.

They also met Jake, a college sophomore attending UMASS Lowell at the time of the flu. He was attacked by a smoker when the group heard his screams and saved him as the long tongued zombie had him wrapped up, strangling him. Thankful for their rescue and for finding other people, Jake quickly agreed to join their group, showing them a local gun store where they could stock up on their ammo and weapons.

It was however, just outside the town center of Billerica they found Alex, hiding in a very high up, very elaborate tree house.

She was half asleep, crying. There was a cooler full of bottled water, but Alex had finished all the food and had been up in the tree house for nearly a week before the group had stumbled in.

When the Green Flu rumors began to surface, Billerica did what it felt was the best option. It shut the town down completely. No one in, no one out unless it was absolutely necessary and only by officials. A curfew was implemented; schools and businesses were shut down.

Alex's grandfather, a part-time survivalist who had gone through the Cold War and saw the signs of the coming trouble. Before the curfew and rations were implemented, he began stocking up food and supplies and storing them in his homemade shelter under the house. He also began storing some items in Alex's tree house in his backyard.

Alex's grandfather passed away from a heart attack before the flu really got going. But with the curfew in effect, the family couldn't give him a proper burial in the same cemetery as his wife. The town officials wouldn't allow it, forcing the family to hold a private memorial in the backyard, with the few friends who were willing to leave their houses to attend.

When the town finally fell to the Green Flu, Alex and her parents were some of the only survivors. When Alex caught a regular run of the mill cold, her parents took the chance to make it to the local pharmacy for some children's cold medicine…they never came back.

After putting Alex in the tree house, promising her they'd be right back they left. Alex didn't want to imagine what had happened to them and she kept imagining that maybe they were picked up by an evacuation unit and would be back for her.

After a few days, she kept that image in her mind, knowing full well even at eleven that her parents were probably dead. She grew up pretty quick that week and had been all set to leave the tree house herself and try to find help when Mary-Ellen, Gayle, William, and Sherry walked down her street.

They had been talking hushed voices, but with the dead silence of the town, Alex heard them easily and even though she couldn't believe her ears at first, had climbed down from the tree house, shocking all the survivors.

Of course Alex joined them, they wouldn't let her carry a gun, eleven years old there was no way she could handle the kickback, but they didn't want her to be unarmed just in case. So Jake found a small short sword in a pawn shop and gave that to Alex, it wasn't very sharp, but it could still do some damage even in Alex's hands and she loved it.

Boston however was not what they expected it to be. Walking across the Tobin Bridge, the survivors realized quickly that the city was overrun. No safe zone, no rescue, nothing but zombies, the city was burning.

Just to be sure the city was lost, the survivors carefully made their way though the city. It turned out to be the biggest mistake they could have made. Granted it gave them the chance to add to their numbers when Carter an attorney in the city had joined them when they were attacked by a tank, but it was a costly addition.

Gayle and Paul were both killed by the Tank before the group could bring the monster down. Their deaths had been hard on the entire group, of course there was the closeness the group already felt for one another, but it was also the loss of the skills and knowledge both Paul and Gayle came with, Gayle's combat triage experience had been unmatched and an absolute necessity, and Paul who was an avid hunter was their resident gun expert. He could load a shotgun fast and shoot pointblank without a scope on his rifle, nailing a perfect headshot every time.

After walking down Route One and down some smaller back roads trying desperately to get as far from Boston as possible; the group had finally made it to the little town about a twenty minute drive from the city. All six were exhausted, mentally and physically drained, not to mention emotionally. They had just barely escaped the Tank attack with their own lives losing Paul and Gayle in the process.

The group carefully split into two teams to double check the surrounding buildings hoping for a safe house of some sorts. It would be dusk soon and the last thing they wanted was to be without shelter for the night. They couldn't stay in the Walgreens as much as Alex would have liked too. It was too open.

What amazed everyone about the town was the fact that it was practically untouched. It looked like it never saw the flu itself, it was as if the town just evacuated leaving everything behind before the flu could hit. Unlike most of the other towns they had walked through and investigated there was no overturned cars, no burnt out buildings, and more importantly for Alex's sake, no bodies.

Alex was with Jake and Carter following the two around the town. Somehow they moved further from the center of town, before they knew it they were moving past an elementary school and street lined with houses on either side. Just like the center of town nothing was touched, like everyone had just up and left in a hurry.

Carter was beginning to get suspicious of the little town they had stumbled into. Not that he wasn't grateful, but he wasn't sure why they hadn't seen a single zombie, it didn't make any sense.

He felt a little bit better when he saw a partially hidden sign, letting any survivor on the road know that there was a safe house up ahead.

"Will come in, Carter here," he called into the walkie-talkie. Alex and Jake looked at each other then at Carter wondering what the attorney was doing. He looked at the kids and nodded to the sign, both understanding instantly.

"Will here, go Carter."

"Will, get Mary Ellen and Sherry we've got a safe house down the road about half a mile."

"Oh thank god," Will replied, his walkie cutting out a little "we'll be there shortly, don't wait for us, just go in. Two knocks we'll be there."

"Roger, Carter over and out." He turned to Jake and Alex and gave them a comforting smile. "Come on guys, lets get the safe house fixed up for the others. Then when they get there we'll have dinner and get some rest."

Feeling confident that they were free and clear of zombies for the night, Alex skipped ahead of Jake and Carter. She made sure to keep both in her sight, just because they hadn't seen any zombies didn't mean there weren't any and she didn't want to worry Carter, even if they didn't run into a single zombie, Carter got worried really easy.

Up a small hill sat a beautiful old farm house, it was two levels and painted white, it partially hidden with the trees that had claimed the property. In the distance there was a barn that was in better shape than even the house, Alex loved history and was pretty good at guessing how old things were so she was pretty sure the barn was at least a hundred and fifty years old if not more and the house just under that.

The driveway stunned Alex though, situated next to the house with a sprawling yard between it and the barn, the area was packed with cars, all of different models and makes, but all Massachusetts plates and Alex wondered if these cars belonged to the same large extended family. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to go into the house, wondering where the owners' of those cars had gone too.

Jake and Carter were just mounting the hill when Alex stopped her skipping, she heard a soft crying. It sounded familiar, but she wasn't really sure what it was. Curiosity got the better of her as she walked carefully and quietly through the grass, squeezing in between the cars, following the crying noise.

Just as Alex came around the corner of the house she stopped dead, standing about two feet in front of her sobbing into her hands was one of the scarier types of zombies, the Witch. Alex had encountered only one of these special infected and they absolutely terrified her.

The Tank scared her too, but she was small enough that she could hide from the Tanks easily, the smokers tended to leave her alone too because of her size. The Boomers were easy to avoid, but the witch made her blood run cold.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, Alex backed away from the witch, knowing not to get to close. Her sobs grew more and more anxious the further Alex backed away and to Alex's horror the witch began moving, following her footsteps.

"Ca…Carter," Alex said as loud as she dared "Jake…help…witch…"

"stay quiet Alex," Jake reminded her "we're coming, don't make any sudden movement."

"I'm…I'm not, she's following me." Alex felt tears running down her own cheeks; she was so scared as the witch shuffled closer to her. Her sobs more persistent to the point where she was heaving, like someone was disturbing her, but the only one close enough to do that was trying desperately to get away.

"Alex that's not possible," Carter said carefully, he was trying to set this in the right motion. Shooting the witch would set her off and she would either attack him which he could handle, Jake would be able to take care of her, but the worst case scenario would be her attacking Alex, the oddity of the witch's focus on Alex was concerning to Carter and he did not want to do anything that put Alex in harm's way.

Before Jake and Carter could set anything in motion, the ground began shaking, sending fear through the three survivors…a Tank was coming.

Jake never saw the hand that sent him flying into the tall grass as him and Carter tried desperately to fight off the Tank's attacks. There was the sound of guns firing as the other three survivors finally joined them, battling the Tank.

Alex however was more concerned with the witch that was still following her. She didn't want to run, just in case that set off the witch, but she wanted to get away from her as quickly as possible

She moved quickly around the house and broke into a run on the other side, leaving the witch behind her…at least she thought. Alex had to stop short again as suddenly the witch was standing right in front of her again. The witch was definitely stalking Alex and she had no idea why.

Quickly Alex looked around trying to find a safe place to hide, the others were still fighting the tank, but it was clearly losing the fight. The crying got louder as the witch moved closer to Alex, she ran around the house again to the other side and once again the witch was there waiting, Alex knew the witch could move fast, but even this was unbelievably fast and it made no sense.

Cautiously Alex moved to the cars, pulling handles hoping one would open. She was thrilled when she found a Toyota Corolla that was unlocked. She climbed into the driver seat and shut the door quietly hoping not to attract the witch.

Alex took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves and her tears; she was so scared and hadn't been this scared since her parents left. She could see the others with the Tank; it was falling to its knees as they defeated it.

This made Alex feel a lot better, everyone looked okay and now they could take care of the witch, Alex fumbled into her backpack and pulled out her flashlight and shined it into the window.

She screamed as the Witch's face appeared in the car window, her face obscured by the flashlight.

Alex's screams did exactly what she was afraid it would do, it set the Witch off. She began clawing and banging on the car window and Alex hoped that the windows would hold against the Witch's assault.

Thankfully the windows did hold and the Witch seemed to realize that too, because she disappeared from Alex's sight for a second. That didn't last long though as she suddenly appeared at the front of the car, her long fingers gripping the car's hood. She was heaving and sobbing and almost growling as she began to push the car, faster and faster, her strength was unbelievable as the Corolla plowed the other cars in the driveway out of the way as if they were matchbox cars.

What stopped the car's high rate of speed was a stone-wall on the other side of the street. The Corolla slammed into the wall so hard Alex hit the steering wheel; luckily she was small enough that she fell under the steering wheel column. Carefully Alex climbed back into the seat; she was shaking so hard she could barely breathe.

Her blood drained from her face as a scratching noise erupted in the car as if someone was running a finger nail down the car's side. It was the Witch; she was shuffling slowly to the back of the car. When she reached the back she did the same thing she did in the driveway, pushed the car back towards the house.

This time there was nothing in the driveway to slow the car down as it crashed into a crumbling garage, taking the building down as the car crashed into the cement foundation. The dust and debris covered the car and Alex coughed instinctively as she tried to see through the dust and her own tears.

When it all cleared, Alex held her flashlight up cautiously, the beam was shaking as Alex tried to calm her hands down. She heard gun shots echoing around her and the Witch was screaming angrily. Alex screamed too, when the beam of light found the Witch, she was standing at the hood of the car again, and instead of crying, she was smiling, a chilling smile that made Alex cry out in fear. Her maniacal grin grew wider at Alex's fear as she gripped the hood one more time, pushing it.

Alex hung onto the steering wheel tight as the car picked up speed; the Witch wasn't crying anymore, she was laughing, she was actually enjoying herself. Instead of a mindless zombie that could be set off by any little noise, this was a zombie that was thinking, it was plotting and it was actually enjoying itself as it traumatized the eleven year old it had trapped in the car.

The car picked up speed, the guns were still shooting off, the witches laughter turned to screams of pain as the bullets found their mark. The Witch gave the car a final shove sending it careening down the road as she fell dead.

Alex closed her eyes, crying as the car went over a small embankment and hit the muddy water of the nearby swamp.

As the swampy water began to fill the car, Alex saw bouncing beams of light as her friends came to her rescue, at least she hoped, the swamp was deep and the car was sinking fast. Alex hoped they would get to her in time, the water was up to her neck, she was going to have to hold her breath, the water was going to engulf her.

xxx

A/N: Believe it or not this was based on a dream that I had a few nights ago and it really gave me the creeps. Mainly because the house I describe, in my dream it was my grandparents' house that was built over 100 years ago by my great grandfather. So believe me this was a real creepy scenario. I hope everyone enjoyed this one shot.


End file.
